The invention relates to a plate-like separator with a transverse throughflow for separating liquids out of a stream of gas, in particular oil mist, comprising a plurality of pairs of curved deflecting surfaces located opposite one another with their concave sides so as to be laterally offset, a stream of air to be cleaned flowing along these surfaces one after the other, whereby the deflecting surfaces form between them a turbulence chamber having an inlet gap and an outlet gap and the inflow-side deflecting surface has a curvature increasing in the direction of flow.
Separators of this type are known, for example, from French laid-open paper 2 388 532. In this case, a large number of profiles which are, in cross section, shaped like a circular arc and extend, for example, over three quarters of a circle, are located opposite one another with their open sides and are laterally offset such that the portions near the edges of the facing profiles form between them a narrow turbulence chamber. A stream of air entering an open profile is deflected in this and introduced into such a turbulence chamber. This means that due to the deflection, on the one hand, and the changes in velocity due to alterations in cross section, on the other hand, the liquid particles carried along in the stream of air are caused to separate out so that the stream of air subsequently exits from the separator again in a cleaned state in a direction parallel to the original direction of entry. A separator with this type of construction has the advantage that it has a low overall height since the overall height results from the two channel-like profiles located opposite one another. However, the degree of separation is not adequate for all requirements.
In a further, known separator (German Utility Model 90 05 858), special turbulence chambers are provided which are intended to guarantee a crossover air flow guidance. For this reason, pairs of oppositely located deflecting surfaces are designed such that they both have an increasing curvature in the same direction, i.e. in the throughflow direction of the turbulence chamber. The bowls formed by the deflecting surfaces do not open towards one another and so opposite deflecting surfaces do not form a common turbulence chamber but two turbulence chambers which are arranged next to one another and into which the stream of air enters one after the other.